Damian Thompson is Editor of Telegraph Blogs and a columnist for the Daily Telegraph. He was once described by The Church Times as a "blood-crazed ferret". He is on Twitter as HolySmoke. His latest book is The Fix: How addiction is taking over your world. He also writes about classical music for The Spectator.

Sun's picture of 'three popes'. Sorry, but that's not Francis

Sorry, but this pic that the Sun is billing as a snapshot of "three popes" is only a picture of two. I've no idea who the guy in the middle is, but it ain't Francis. I'd say the photo was taken between 1978 and 1983: it's clearly John Paul II at the start of his pontificate, at which point Fr Jorgio Bergoglio would have been in his early 40s with a plenty of dark hair and no specs. See below:

This "three popes" photo has been doing the round for days. I'm amazed that the Sun was taken in by it.

STOP PRESS

Our commenter Geocars below has, I believe, cleared up the mystery. For a time I thought it was Cardinal Bernardin, but Cardinal Luigi Dadaglio (1914-1990) must be the man, judging by this picture:

Card. Dadaglio was a Vatican diplomat who, as nuncio to Spain, played a role in opposing Franco and liberalising the Spanish Church. And he was, by some margin, the oldest of the men in that picture.